OCThen reader, Linda J, asks if anyone remembers the Plunge at Huntington Beach...
Did any of you ever swim at the "plunge" on Huntington Beach? My Aunt Johnnie Belshe used to teach kids to swim there...I remember going to her house on every 4th of July and watch the parade pass by followed by a day at the beach and fireworks off the pier at night...The Huntington Beach Plunge was a swimming pool by the pier that filled with ocean water. It allowed people to swim in the ocean in a controlled environment, without the worry of waves and sharks. Many beach cities had these.
Today, Huntington Beach offers an annual "plunge", but it's not the same thing. It's just a bunch of people walking into the ocean during the cold (or theoretical cold) of winter.
Orange County Memories is about the history of Orange County, CA as told from the people who lived and worked here.
your Aunt Johnnie taught me how to swim at the plunge in HB. Thanks for the memory
ReplyDeleteI worked at the HB Saltwater Plunge for Don & Ina Blossom in 1961-62 as a lockerboy. I was 13 years, had to get a work permit and was paid .50 cents an hour. But could swim for free when not at work. Learned a lot of spanish but not all the good words. lol
ReplyDeleteI knew Johnnie Belshe very well, she was a good instructor. She taught a lot of babies to swim.
The last night, after we closed, we had a party and were allowed to jump from the rafters into the deep end, as they were draining the plunge.
This job was an experience I will carry to my grave.
Dave Wentworth sr.